Soil in Emma Caldwell murder accused's van linked to body site

Iain Packer denies killing sex worker Emma Caldwell and charges against 27 other women

The Emma Caldwell murder trial has heard of a possible forensic link between where her body was found and a van used by the accused.

An expert from the Netherlands Forensic Institute compared soil samples for the High Court in Glasgow.

Dr Stefan Uitdehaag said it was "much more likely" the samples came from the same place, than from somewhere else.

Iain Packer has denied murdering Ms Caldwell, 27, and dumping her body in Limefield Woods in South Lanarkshire.

The 51-year-old denies a total of 46 charges involving multiple women including the murder of Ms Caldwell on 5 April 2005.

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Soil samples from around the ditch where Ms Caldwell's body was discovered were compared to soil samples taken from the van's footwell.

The court heard the "chosen technique" to compare soil samples was to analyse the pollen in them.

Dr Uitdehaag confirmed that the forest samples and the van samples each contained the same types and quantities of pollen.

The soil expert set two "propositions" before the court.

He said either the soil in the van came from the "same location" as the forest - defined by various factors including within a 50-metre range - or it came from another different "random" site.

The jury recently visited the heavily wooded area where Emma Caldwell's body was found

Jurors heard he found that three of the six samples in particular "very well" fitted "proposition one" when compared to what was in the van.

Prosecutor Richard Goddard KC asked the soil expert if it was correct to state that it was "much more likely" the soil from the van came from those areas rather than "another random location".

He replied: "Yes, that is correct."

To put the likelihood in "mathematical" terms, it was 100 to 10,000 times more likely it fitted the first proposition or 99% to 99.99%.

Mr Goddard asked the witness: "Three out of six samples were an even greater match to the samples from the van than the other three?"

The doctor agreed.

'Manual strangulation'

The court also heard from the pathologist who examined Ms Caldwell's body after it was discovered in the woods on 8 May 2005.

Dr Marjorie Turner confirmed the "clearly identifiable" cause of death was compression of the neck.

Her report further stated: "The pattern of injury is more in keeping with manual strangulation, but the application of a ligature - either instead of or in addition to a hand - cannot be excluded."

The court heard there had been a plastic cord or line visible at the back of the neck when Ms Caldwell was found.

The jury was also told that Miss Caldwell had "clearly been dead for some time" and possibly from shortly after she was last seen alive on 5 April 2005.

However, the pathologist was not able to determine an exact time of death.

Jurors have heard that Mr Packer told detectives he had driven to an area in Lanarkshire with women, including "six times" with Ms Caldwell.

He was also said to have admitted that he had initially lied to detectives about not knowing Ms Caldwell.

Jurors also heard how he admitted having sex with Ms Caldwell despite her asking to stop.

The trial continues.